


Refreshed

by Amyused



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M, Towel fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 03:07:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2175741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amyused/pseuds/Amyused
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shishido is a thoughtful senior...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Refreshed

Ohtori sat down heavily on the court side bench, relieved for the chance to take a break from practice in the baking heat and stifling humidity. He leaned his forearms heavily on his knees, head down and sweat falling on the pavement beneath him. This summer felt particularly hot. Admittedly, he basically thought the exact same thing every time summer rolled around, but Choutarou was still vaguely sure that this day was the hottest one of the year thus far, at the very least.

Sweat poured down from his temples, snaking into the collar of his shirt and pasting his polo and Hyotei jersey to his back. He would have taken off the jacket, but he didn’t like the way his lighter skin tended to bypass tanning and to go straight to red and burning. Taking a seat at the open-air courts after his cool down run wasn’t exactly going to save him from the sun’s rays any more than playing an actual game would, so the regular jersey was going to have to stay.

Suddenly, the light of the sun was blotted out as something… soft as it landed on his head.

… A towel?

Choutarou grabbed the edge of the light blue fabric and pulled it off of his head to find Shishido standing next to him with his own pale towel, viciously wiping at the beads of sweat that cascaded down his face from where his cap had been situated. The baseball cap itself was scrunched up in his other hand, stained darker blue with moisture.

"Thought you might want to dry off a little. Kinda pointless in this weather, but you know." Shishido shrugged and looked away toward the courts again.

"Th-thank you!" Choutarou looked back down at the towel in his hands. It wasn’t exactly the coolest looking thing, or the best quality. It looked like your typical, convenience store-grade sports towel, but…

Masking his curiosity by ostensibly wiping some moisture off of his cheeks, Choutarou took a tentative sniff. Ah, there it was…

He smiled, lips hidden in the folds of terry cloth. Not that it was unreasonable to bring two towels with you to practice, especially not for a time of the year when you might as well bring several changes of clothes with you wherever you go if you want to hide the sweat. It was something that Shishido habitually did, in fact… But, there was still a high probability that Shishido had brought an extra one just in case Choutarou had forgotten his own. He was just that kind of senpai.

Choutarou pressed the towel to his face and cleaned off most of the sweat that had gathered there, reveling in the refreshing smell of the detergent that Shishido’s family used. A clean scent with a hint of honey and lingering bite of cool mint. It was familiar and comforting and made his stomach feel light, even though his chest felt a bit tight. It was Shishido’s smell. Most things that reminded him of the other boy brought on that weird floaty, painful clench inside of him.

It was strange, but it was good in a simultaneously awkward, yet exhilarating way. And that was what mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Written by the Paula half of Amyused in honor of Rachel’s 26th birthday. Happy birthday, 相棒!!


End file.
